Trade volume between Pakistan, Sri Lanka declines in lat seven-year

KARACHI: Despite Free Trade Agreement between Pakistan and Sri-Lanka, the trade volume between the two countries currently stands at mere US$ 373 million.

During a meeting between the Consul General of Sri Lanka, G.L. Gnanatheva and officials of Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), here the other day,it was observed with concern that a decline of US$ 139 million could be registered between two countries during past seven years.

Sri Lankan CG who had visited the FPCCI office to discuss bilateral trade, investment and FTA potential to improve trade relations between the two countries was joined by FPCCI’s Senior Vice President, Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig in taking exception to the fact that trade volume between two countries in 2011 was 512 million as against US$ 373 in 2018.

Exports from Pakistan to Sri Lanka was said to be currently US$ 270 million whereas imports from Sri Lanka to Pakistan stood at US$ 103 as against exports worth US$ 442 million and imports of US$ 70 million in 2011.

Mentioning that FTA between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was in place for past 13 years, Dr Baig said Pakistan had huge potential to export rice to Sri Lanka, however, it was compromised due to import quota restrictions imposed by the later.

As per the Sri Lankan restrictions rice only upto 6,000 tons per anum could be imported. FPCCI officials Ismail Suttar, Muslim Mohammadi, Waqar Mehmood Khan, Jamal Khan Achkazai, Kamal A. Mehmoodi and others present on the occasion joined their vice president, pleading raise in the duty free quota of rice from Pakistan to 25,000 tons per anum.

The Sri Lankan Consul General expressed his desire to increase the exports of Sri Lankan Tea to Pakistan.

He also mentioned that a seminar scheduled for February 2019 will be attended by the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka and senior officials of Sri Lankan Tea Board to apprise local exporters about optimum utilization of FTA between Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Trudeau’s Tory rival pledges balanced budget in 5 years

OTTAWA: Canada’s Conservative leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s main rival in upcoming elections pledged Friday to balance the government’s budget within five years, backtracking on a previous target.
An average of several recent polls gives the Tories a six percentage point lead over the Liberals ahead of the October ballot.
Andrew Scheer previously vowed that balancing the budget could be done within two years, but now claims “Trudeau has made an even bigger mess of the budget than I thought possible.
“And he has made the job of cleaning it up that much more difficult,” he said in a speech to the Canadian Club in Vancouver.
Canada’s economy surged after the Liberals took office in 2015 and unleashed a massive stimulus. But growth is forecast to slow this year.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau in his March budget pointed to 900,000 new jobs created since 2015 and the lowest unemployment rate in 40 years.
The government’s fiscal deficit, however, is projected to balloon to Can$19.8 billion (US$14.7 billion) — after Trudeau abandoned his 2015 pledge to run a few small deficits and return to balance this year.
Still, Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio is lower than its G7 counterparts and is expected to fall over the coming years from the current 30.7 percent.
Scheer said, “even the most optimistic projections don’t have the Liberals balancing the budget for 20 more years.”
“But if Canadians elect a Conservative government this fall, we will balance the budget in about a quarter of that time,” he said.

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Canada unveils air passenger bill of rights

OTTAWA: Airline passengers in Canada will soon be eligible for significant compensation for delayed flights or lost baggage under regulations announced Friday by Transportation Minister Marc Garneau.
The measures follow a rising number of complaints about being stuck on the tarmac for hours, musical instruments being broken in transit and lost baggage.
“Our goal was to provide a world-leading approach to air passenger rights that would be predictable and fair for passengers while ensuring our air carriers remain strong and competitive,” Garneau said.
“These new regulations achieve that balance and will give air travelers the rights and treatment they pay for and deserve.”
Starting July 15, airlines will be required to disembark passengers after three hours on the tarmac if there is no prospect of taking off soon.
They would also need to compensate passengers bumped from overbooked flights up to Can$2,400 (US$1,800) and up to Can$2,100 for lost luggage.
As of December 15, additional measures will require airlines to pay passengers up to Can$1,000 for flight delays and cancellations, provide food, drink and accommodations, and rebook them on new flights — using competing airlines if necessary.
They would also have to seat children near a parent at no extra charge and develop new standards for transporting musical instruments.
The latter was in response to travelling musicians complaining on social media about broken guitars and other instruments during flights.
The rules apply to flights to, from and within Canada.
According to Canada’s government statistics agency, there are an average of 5.5 million take-offs and landings at Canada’s 91 airports each year.
Due to its vast geography, air transportation is crucial for connecting parts of the country. A flight from easternmost to westernmost Canada takes about eight hours.

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BEIJING: Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan’s upcoming visit to Pakistan will further deepen high-level exchanges, friendship and mutual trust between China and Pakistan and advance development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) besides bilateral cooperation across the board, a Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson said on Friday.
“We believe the vice president’s visit will further deepen high-level exchanges, friendship and mutual trust between China and Pakistan and advance the CPEC development and our cooperation across the board,” Lu Kang said while responding to a question of APP regarding the significance of the visit during his daily press briefing held here.
He said the visit would inject a new impetus in a closer community of shared future in a new era for two countries.
The spokesperson said the Chinese vice president would be visiting Pakistan from May 26 to 28 at the invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“Wang Qishan will be meeting with President Arif Alvi and hold talks with Prime Minister Imran Khan and exchange views on deepening bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interests,” he added.
Lu Kang remarked that China and Pakistan were all-weather strategic cooperative partners and iron friends, adding, “We firmly support each other on issues concerning each other’s foreign interests.”